


Last One Standing

by arcticTrash



Category: Naruto
Genre: naruto oc, oc / sasuke uchiha, oc work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-09-11
Packaged: 2019-06-26 04:35:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15655872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arcticTrash/pseuds/arcticTrash
Summary: The Himura Clan was once a famous and respected clan all throughout of Konoha, but now, years after their death, the villagers now resent and fear them.  They're known now as 'The Cursed Clan".But why? What happened in the past to make the village turn on them so? When a young girl with the Himura blood running through her veins stumbles into Konoha, it raises questions that seem impossible to answer.The more she grows, the more powerful she becomes. Now that this Himura girl is a ninja, what will become of her? She wants to find out what happened to her clan, to her memories, and why she brings bad luck everywhere she goes. Is it all in her head, or is her clan really cursed?





	1. Prolouge

 

**I never thought things would end up this way. After becoming a ninja I thought my luck would turn around. I’d gain the respect I always wanted, no one would hate me for things I didn’t do. They’d all have to see just how great I really was.**

 

**It wasn’t supposed to end up like this. My team is on the brink of death and it’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have ever left them. It shouldn’t have ended up like this. Why did I leave them? Why did I so stupidly listen to them, even against my better judgement?**

 

**I could’ve stopped this, if only I had been there. Now the first of those I’d trusted outside the clan are dying, and it’s all my fault. I can only sit here and watch as their heart monitors beeped away, filling the otherwise silent hospital room.**

 

**I’ve gotten my revenge, but at what cost? It feels...wrong. After the battle I found out that there was more to this whole thing than meets the eye, and I’ve only scratched the surface. Now I’ve got a lunatic running around the village wearing the skins of those he’s killed, and my friends look at me as if I’m a monster.**

 

**Maybe I am. Maybe everything the village thinks of me is true. I am a monster. I’m bad luck. I’m a harbinger of death.**

 

**And you’ll be damned sure that I’ll bring death upon the fuckers responsible for this.**


	2. 3 Man Squads?

“I was here first, I’m going to sit with Sasuke!”

“No way, you’re delusional. I was clearly 1/10th of an inch ahead of you, I was here first!”

“I was here before either of you, so I should be the one to get to sit with him.” 

The Ninja Academy, morning after graduation; every girl in the class was fighting with each other over who would get to sit with the local heartthrob, Sasuke Uchiha. This boy was always the talk of the school; best grades and easily the strongest male of the graduates. With his dark hair and eyes to match, and his mysterious aura, he’s been the crush of 90% of the girls that attend this academy. They’re always fawning and fighting over him, not even paying attention to how little he cared about the attention.

“Must be hard having your own entourage, huh Sasuke?” Akane, the girl sitting in a seat in front of him, leaned back and snickered at her friend’s misfortune. “I wonder how badly they’d all kill me if I took that oh so precious seat beside you.”

Sasuke shot her a glare, sighing under the folded hands in front of his face. Everything about this boy just screamed ‘edgelord’, so Akane always found it hilarious how everyone thought he was all cool and mysterious. Sure he was strong, and everyone has their cool moments, but come on. He’s put on such a higher pedestal than the rest of the male students, it’s honestly ridiculous. 

“They already seem to hate me with a passion because I talk to you,” Akane held back a cackle at the memory of when she was paired up with Sasuke last week. Iruka-sensei, their Academy teacher, always picked them to demonstrate jutsus and techniques. They were the best in the class, so it’s obvious that they’d be picked for those kinds of things, but it tends to make every girl in the class jealous of Akane. In the past she was subject to bullying and harassment, but after beating the shit out of one of her bully’s they all left her alone. Now she only gets glares and snide comments. “Oh my god, do you think they’d pop a blood vessel if I sat next to you? I bet their eyes would just pop out of their heads if I did it.”

“That’d just cause more trouble for me, don’t bother.” Sasuke finally speaks up, shooting daggers at the girl groups beside his table. “They’re all so clueless.”

Just before Akane could respond, another boy jumped onto Sasuke’s table. He squatted in front of the dark haired boy, inches away from his face while he glared. 

“Naruto! Stop glaring at Sasuke!” Sakura, one of Sasuke’s fangirls screamed at the blonde boy in front of Sasuke. He just looked back at Sakura, an almost hurt look on his face, then he turned back to Sasuke. 

Naruto seemed to hate Sasuke, just because Sakura liked him. There was a sort of invisible ‘love triangle’ going on there. Naruto likes Sakura, but hates Sasuke. Sakura likes Sasuke, but hates Naruto. Sasuke seemed to just hate them both, along with everyone else in the class. He just wanted to be left alone to be honest, but no one seemed to take that hint. Akane felt a little bad for him sometimes, but hey, he’s never really told any of them to fuck off and leave him alone, so he shouldn’t complain. If he doesn’t voice his displeasure, they’ll never leave him be. 

Sasuke glared back at Naruto when the blonde boy wouldn’t leave. Now they’re just having a glare-off and you can almost see the electricity between them. Wow, they’re so close, it would be a shame if someone just...gave Naruto a little push. Akane’s so tempted, it would be hilarious, but the boy beside her beat her to it.

It was an accident of course, the boy only leaned back and didn’t know that Naruto was there, but when his arm bumped Naruto’s leg, it was all over. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t see you the-”

The room was dead silent. That small bump had caused Naruto to fall forward and lock lips with Sasuke. You could feel the all the Sasuke fangirls turn to stone as they screeched and cried over the display. It only lasted a second, but afterwards both Sasuke and Naruto were spitting and coughing, throwing threats at each other. 

Akane burst into laughter, her whole upper body fell forward on the table. She couldn’t contain herself, and was even banging her fists on the table as she cackled. Oh god, she’s crying, she can’t handle this, that just killed her so badly. Sasuke’s going to kill her for laughing later, but oh well. The look on both of their faces is something she’ll treasure and never let Sasuke live down. Ever.

“Man, those two are vicious…” The boy who had bumped Naruto was looking rather worried as he sat back down in his chair. Akane slapped him on the back, coughing because she was laughing so hard. 

“Ryuu, ohmygod…” Akane took a deep breath in, then wheezed when she let it out. “Accidental or not, that was brilliant. Do it again, please.” 

“Oh hell no, I value my life, thanks.” Ryuu chuckled nervously, looking straight ahead as he felt a cold chill run up his spine. Sasuke was glaring at him now, since he had caused the scene. Accidental or not, that just caused you to get on Sasuke’s bad side. Good luck with that.

As the pair talked, Naruto was in the background of them getting his ass beat by the group of girls. Wouldn’t say ‘it serves him right’ or anything, but maybe he should’ve been more aware of his surroundings. That little stunt didn’t exactly help any of the class to like him anymore, though.

In the midst of the chaos, Iruka-sensei walked through the door and told everyone to take their seats. It was time for the orientation to begin. After everything was settled and the introductions were out of the way, Iruka sensei began congratulating and explaining to everyone what being a ninja would mean, and what would be in store for them.

“You all will be assigned to a 3 man team that we’ve picked out for you,” Iruka-sensei announced as he began to read off the list. Akane subtly glanced around the room, wondering who she’d get assigned onto a team with. 

To be honest, she would prefer it if she was on a team with Sasuke. She’s known him for as long as she can remember, and they both work well together, so it’d be a win win for both of them. Sasuke would prefer to work alone, though, she figures. Hey, at least she’d be someone he could tolerate on a team, unlike all the other people in this class. 

“-Team Seven, lead by Kakashi Hitake, will consist of...Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno-” 

Akane heard a loud cheer from Naruto, followed by a groan from Sakura.

“-and Sasuke Uchiha.” Now it was Sakura’s turn to cheer and Naruto’s turn to groan. Wow, Sasuke got paired up with the 2 people he dislikes the most in this class. Now Akane just feels sorry for him. “Team Eight, lead by Kurenai Yuhi, will consist of...Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzaka, and Shino Aburame.” 

Huh, that’s...an interesting pairing. Both of the quiet kids with one of the loudmouths of the class. Akane was curious about how that would turn out. Hinata was too shy to even say her own name most of the time, while Shino was a little...strange. He seemed nice, just off-putting most of the time. Kiba was as loud and rowdy as Naruto, but at least he could back up his words better.

“Team Nine, lead by Hideo Hayashi, will consist of...Ryuu Yamasaki, Akane Himura, and Koichi Itou.” Akane blinked, and couldn’t help but roll her eyes. God, she just got stuck with the Sasuke-wannabe, Koichi. Ryuu was okay, Akane didn’t know him all that well to give him a proper evaluation, but everyone knew about Koichi. Ever since gradeschool Koichi has seen Sasuke as some weird rival-type deal, just because Sasuke is so popular with the girls. He’s just as bad as the Sasuke groupies. 

“And lastly, Team Ten, lead by Asuma Sarutobi, will consist of...Ino Yamanaka, Shikimaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi.” That got a lot of groans and complaining out of Ino, yet another Sasuke fan. She probably wanted to be on Sasuke’s team, but got stuck with the people she least likes. Sucks to be her, too. “Alright, that’s all of the teams, you’re dismissed. After lunch you’ll be meeting your team leaders.” Iruka Sensei smiled as he dismissed everyone, then sat at his desk to do paperwork.

\---------

Akane took the time to look around outside for her friend, Sasuke, but alas he had disappeared. Probably wanted to go and hide from his new teammate, Sakura, Akane supposed. Oh well, more food for her, then. Not like she wanted to eat lunch with her best friend or anything, maybe even tease him for the Naruto thing from earlier. 

...Damn, now she’s got to eat alone. Something that she’s used to doing, but it just gets boring after a while. As she walked away from the academy, she noticed Naruto and Sakura talking in front of her. Eavesdropping? In this neighborhood? More likely than you think. 

“Why in the world would I ever want to eat lunch with you?” Sakura scoffed at Naruto, flipping her long hair over her shoulder. 

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, shrugging. “I dunno, I just thought that since we’re on the same team and all, that we could eat lunch together, you know? Get to know each other and stuff.” Poor kid, he looks so hopeful. 

Sakura, put her hands on her hips, shooting Naruto a glare. “Naruto...you’re so annoying.” She said that with such distaste her voice before walking away from him. Wow, harsh much? 

Akane walked up to Naruto and patted his back sympathetically. “Damn, that was rude of her.” 

“It’s fine, it’s always like this. It’s because of that stupid Sasuke.” Naruto fidgeted with his headband, shrugging off Akane’s hand. “I don’t get why everyone likes him so much, he’s not that great. I’m so much better than he is.” 

Akane sighed, holding her hands up as she shrugged too. “It’s because he’s dark and mysterious, most little girls go crazy over that kind of stuff.” 

Naruto raised an eyebrow. “And you don’t?”

“Of course I don’t. Let’s just say I’ve seen Sasuke in a different light, so it’s hard for me to become his groupie. They only like him because of this romanticized version of him that they have in their head.” 

“Uh…” 

Okay, too big of words for Naruto. “Eh...just don’t worry about that. If you really like Sakura and want to get to know her, then just prove that you’re better than Sasuke. He can’t be all cool and mysterious when he’s beat down on the ground, now can he?”

Naruto grins and nods. “Damn right he can’t! I’ll show that jerk who’s the strongest, believe it!” Naruto rolls up his sleeves and runs off after Sakura. Maybe Akane shouldn’t have said that, it would just cause more problems for Sasuke in the future.

Haha, he’s gotta make some new friends somehow. Might as well make sure he can’t shake these two new teammates anytime soon. RIP Sasuke’s peace and quiet. Akane grins at the thought of them annoying Sasuke to death, then starts to head off to a place to eat her own lunch. That’s what Sasuke gets for running off ahead without her.


	3. Meet The Dream Team

It’s such a nice day, so what does Akane do? Sit in a tree while she eats her lunch, of course. It’s not like she has anything better to do. Once she’s done she just starts carving her chopsticks with her kunai knife. Wooden needles would be neat to have, so she’s going to try and make some. 

What a pretty day, though she just can’t get over it. There’s birds singing in the trees around her, it’s the perfect temperature out, there’s a slight breeze to keep her cool throughout the day. This tree is comfortable too, she’s got her back on it with one leg lying over the branch she’s sitting on while the other just dangles off of it. She sighs, content. 

...Well, sort of content. She’s a little bit worried about her new teammates. Ryuu seems like someone she could get along with, but Koichi...he’s a bit much. Maybe they could get along? He acts like a hotshot, but maybe he’s not that bad. 

“Hey, hey! Hey, Aaaaaaaaaakane!” Akane’s snapped out of her thoughts by a voice below her. She looks down from her chopstick work and sees Ryuu, her new teammate, waving at her from below. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you! Want to eat lunch together?” 

“Uh, hey Ryuu.” Akane grabbed her empty lunchbox and hopped out of the tree, landing in front of Ryuu. Nailed the landing. “I finished my food a while ago, sorry.”

Ryuu looked disappointed for a moment, but quickly shook it off. “Oh, damn, really? Guess I did come a little late. It just took me forever to find you.” He shuffles awkwardly for a few seconds, rubbing the back of his neck. “Still, do you mind if I join you? Since we’re now teammates and all that.” 

Akane smiled and shrugged, leaning against the tree as she stabbed it with her chopstick needle. Went through halfway, hell yeah. “Nah, I don’t mind. I was just thinking about you and Koichi, actually.” 

“Oh?” Ryuu flopped down on the ground as he opened up his lunchbox. 

“Yeah, I was just thinking about how you’re going to be a lot more tolerable than Koichi is.” Akane shakes her head. “You seem okay, but Koichi…” 

Ryuu nods in understanding. “He’s a bit of an obnoxious dick.” Akane snorts and nods in agreement. 

“Yeah, at least he seems like it from what we’ve seen at school. I wonder if he’ll be different now that we’re on a team together?” Ryuu shrugged at Akane. “Maybe in the past day he’s changed into a completely different person.”

“Maybe he’s stopped trying to be Uchiha and started being himself for once.” Ryuu commented through a mouthful of food. 

“Oh, right, he tries to mimic Sasuke all the time. Didn’t he like, dye his hair so that he could look more like him?” Ryuu nods and Akane laughed. “I heard the rumors that he did, but I didn’t want to believe them. Just...wow. I knew Sasuke was a local ladykiller, but now he’s got fanboys? He should go and try to be a celebrity at this point.”

“I mean, he sort of already is. You both are, actually, now that I think about it.” 

“Me, a celebrity around here? I’m more infamous if anything, most of the village can’t stand the sight of me.”

“You really haven’t noticed? The girls in the class are all jealous of you, while the boys are always ogling you.” It’s a good thing that Akane wasn’t eating or drinking anything, otherwise she would’ve choked at Ryuu’s words.

“What?? No, you’re joking. I know that the girls didn’t really like me, but I figured it was just because of Sasuke.”

“Oh, yeah, they definitely don’t like you since you hang out with Uchiha so much. It’s always been like that, though.” Ryuu takes a sip of his water before continuing. “I mean that they’re jealous of how strong you are. You are the the only female at the top of the class both smarts wise and strength wise. I’d say that you’re on par with Uchiha.”

Akane raises an eyebrow. Well...that’s true, but that’s only because she trains with Sasuke Uchiha. They’ve trained together since they were kids, so she never really thought about how strong she must be. I mean, she knows that she’s strong, but. “It’s not really a competition to see who’s the strongest. At least, I don’t see it that way. Some people are strong, some aren’t as strong, it’s not that big of a deal.” Akane reaches down and swipes a small sausage from Ryuu’s lunchbox. “We’re all ninja now, so we’ve got lots of room to grow stronger and improve. I just happen to train recreationally, so I’m always practicing and honing my skills and stuff.”

That’s okay, he didn’t want that sausage anyways. “Well, that explains it. Most of the girls in our class spend their time fawning over boys-well, one boy in particular-so I doubt that they spend more than 30 minutes a day to train.”

Akane chortles at that. “If the girls in our class spent more time training and less time making their hair look good, then Sasuke might bat an eye in their direction. They’re all just wasting their time with him, in my opinion. He’s not interested in them in the slightest, and I doubt that he ever will be.” 

“He isn’t? Damn, if I had all those girls fawning over me like that, I’d-” Ryuu’s cut off by a bell in the distance. “Looks like lunchtime’s over.” The boy stands up and stretches, putting his lunchbox away before turning to Akane. “Ready to meet our sensei?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Akane smiles as they pair makes their way back to the academy. 

\-------

On a tall rooftop is where Akane and her team sat. Shortly after Akane and Ryuu had gone back to the academy, their sensei had shown up. He was the the first sensei to arrive, and he led Team Nine out here to this building to get to know them better. 

Akane stood, leaned against the railing of the rooftop. Her arms were crossed while on foot was crossed over the other, toes resting on the concrete underneath her. She wore the typical nina attire, though hers was a little less feminine than her schoolmates. Her black tank top was baggy on her, along with the dark blue vest she wore. It was unbuttoned and reached just below her waist, where her weapons packs rested. Her white shorts came up a good 4 inches above her knees, and she wore no fishnet stockings like most of the kunoichi wore. Her shoes were like everyone else’s, though; the typical black, toeless ninja shoes. 

She was calm, Hideo noted, but unsure of what the situation would bring. Her posture shows confidence, but the way her eyes dart around once in a while give away that she’s anxious. Social Anxiety, perhaps? Does she not get along with these two? That would be something Hideo intends to work on with her.

Ryuu sat on the ground between Akane and Koichi, head propped up on his hand. Obviously he was bored, brown eyes watching the ants on the rooftop scurry around as they searched for food. He wore a dark yellow, short sleeved turtleneck with his ninja headband wrapped around his neck. His brown shorts were loose fitting, falling below his knees while his weapons packs rested just above the knees. He too, wore the typical ninja shoes. His appearance was rather boring, nothing that would be easy to spot in a crowd or on a street. 

This kid doesn’t seem to care much; his boredom is obvious. Ryuu looks like he wants to be anywhere but here. His grades were all decent in the academy, but nothing out of the ordinary about him so far. He seems calm, collected, but spacey. Ryuu needs drive in order to be a ninja; Hideo will give him that.

Koichi Itou, on the other hand...this boy was something to behold. He stood on the other side of Ryuu, leaned against the railing of the rooftop in a way that mimicked Akane. The boy’s bright blue eyes kept flickering between girl and boy beside him, but lingered on Akane most of the time.

Koichi’s attire was obviously meant to be flashy and noticeable. His jade green, form fitting shirt was cut to show his navel, while still falling past his waist. It was trimmed with black to match his tight black pants and black gloves. Underneath all of this he wore fishnet under armor that went up above his collarbone and stopped below his chest. His ninja headband was tied around his left upper arm. 

This kid seems to act like most of the girls do, from what Hideo’s hear of him. All he cares about is impressing others and one-upping those he doesn’t like. Koichi’s mimicking Akane’s movements and what she does while also trying to mirror Sasuke Uchiha’s style and mannerisms. Is there trouble with his own self image? That would be troublesome on missions, especially if the kid tries to be better than everybody. He’s smart, though, and his test scores were on par with Sakura Haruno’s, so he knows what he’s doing. Hideo’s curious about how this will turn out.

Hideo Hiyashi took a bit longer to get a good reading on his new students. Akane Himura; the girl from ‘the cursed clan’ who’s the talk of the village. Assumed to be close to Sasuke Uchiha, of the Uchiha Clan. It’s obvious to see that they’re friends due to their shared mannerisms and wardrobe choices. Must be a subconscious happening, seeing as how either of them seem like the type to want to match clothes with one another.

She excels at most things, but so far hasn’t shown an affinity to anything in particular. Lots of potential to figure out what she’s good at there. Seems to work well with others, yet doesn’t like to be close with them. A curious genin.

Ryuu Yamasaki; he doesn’t excel at much of anything, and his clan isn’t very well known. If what Hideo heard is correct, then he’s the first of his family to become a ninja. Seems like he wants to make a name for himself in the village, but is apprehensive to be put in the spotlight. He’s social, but not very charismatic. Nothing particularly special about him.

Koichi Itou; a show off who likes to impersonate Sasuke Uchiha. He’s not very good at it, though, seeing as how this kid isn’t like the Uchiha boy at all. It’s like he’s trying to one-up Sasuke at...being Sasuke. He’s smart, but not particularly strong, and seems to be a lot more feminine than most boys his age. Hideo can’t tell if this copycat act is out of envy or admiration.

Hideo-Sensei clears his throat, which gets everyone’s attention. “Hello all, I’m your team leader, Hideo Hayashi. Sorry about the awkward silence, I was just getting a good reading on all of you before we started introductions.”

“But, Sensei, we weren’t even doing anything.” Ryuu gave Hideo-Sensei a questioning look. “How did you get a reading on us if we’re just sitting here?”

“You can learn a lot about people from their appearance and how they hold themselves, Ryuu Yamasaki.” Hideo smiled at the group, pushing his glasses up his nose. “Now that I’ve done that, how about you all introduce yourselves? Let me know a little bit more about you.”

The trio glanced at each other, unsure of what to say. After another minute of silence from them all, Hideo-Sensei continued. “I guess that I’ll go first so that you all can get a feel of what to do. My name, as you know already, is Hideo Hayashi. I have lots of hobbies, and I like to sew. I don’t particularly like seafood or junk food, and like to live a healthy lifestyle. I have as many allies as I do enemies, which is quite a lot.” He hums in thought, sitting down with the group now. “I’d also like you all to tell me about your dreams and aspirations, so I guess you need to know mine as well. My dream is to marry a beautiful wife, retire from the ninja life, and spend the rest of my days in peace. I’d like to open up a little hobbies shop near my house in the village as well.”

This man was...surprisingly normal for a shinobi. Usually the shinobi you meet are eccentric or weird, but not him. Hideo-Sensei had strawberry blonde, undercut hair and black eyes. His glasses were brown and he wore the usual jonin style uniform. His ninja headband was wrapped around his right leg, and that seemed to be the only strange thing about his appearance. 

The genin were silent again, until Hoichi finally spoke. “I suppose that I will go first.” The boy straightened up, then took a short bow. “My name is Hoichi Itou, the Prince of Konoha-” That caused Ryuu to snort hard, earning him a glare from the speaker. “-And my hobbies consist of cooking and studying. I love to read, and I know lots of ninjutsu. I’ve perfected almost all of them, of course.”

Hoichi straightens up, then leans back against the railing once more. “I strongly dislike certain…former classmates of mine. There is one that I’m rather fond of, though. But that’s a story for another time. I don’t have an enemy, I have a rival!” Akane can’t help but roll her eyes a bit at that. It’s obvious who he’s talking about. “I’ve got lots of allies and friends, I mean, who wouldn’t want to be friends with a skilled ninja such as myself?” Hoichi hums in thought. “My dreams for the future…” He trails off, rubbing the back of his neck with a subtle blush on his face. Obviously he won’t say it, but everyone can pretty much tell what he’s thinking. He’s got someone special on the brain right now.

There’s a moment of silence after Hoichi stops talking, so Ryuu raises his hand to go next. “Uh, I’m Ryuu Yamasaki, what’s good? My family owns a meat shop in the Northern part of Konoha, and I wasn’t really interested in doing that, so I became a ninja instead. I really like to design new weapons, but I’m not all that good at making them yet. My favorite one that I’ve designed so far is this cool metal fan that shoots out poison needles when you swing it.” Ryuu makes a little ‘whoosh’ motion with his hands. “I don’t really like spicy things, and I hate it when people stare at me for more than a minute. It just makes me uncomfortable.” Like right now, but he’ll try and let it slide this time. “My dreams for the future...I guess I haven’t really thought about it. I’ll get back to you on that.”

Hideo-Sensei nods at Ryuu, then turns to Akane. Your turn, girly. Akane is quiet for a few moments, then sighs and shrugs. “Hey, I’m Akane Himura. My hobbies...I don’t really have any, aside from training. I kind of spend all of my freetime doing it, so I don’t really have the time to do anything else. My likes...I like to cook, because I like to eat good food. I’m only good at making a few things, though, so I end up eating a lot of things over and over.” The girl scratches her head, wondering if there’s anything else that she really likes enough to say out loud. 

“I like animals. A classmate of mine, Kiba, had this cute dog named Akamaru.” Akamaru is such a good boy, who doesn’t love him? “As for my dislikes...I kind of hate a lot of stuff. I guess one of the main things I hate is when people lie to me. That really pisses me off. Now, my dreams…” 

Akane looks across the village, taking the time to think on her response. “I want to be someone who’s strong enough to protect everyone. I’ve only got one person who’s like family to me, and I want to be able to protect him as much as he protects me. I want to be strong enough to help him achieve his dreams and goals, too, so then he won’t have to carry that burden all on his own.” When Akane looks back at the group, Ryuu and Hoichi are looking at her as if she just said the coolest thing they’ve ever heard. 

“That’s a very admirable dream, Akane. Are you prepared to do whatever it takes to make it happen?” Hideo-Sensei asked, to which Akane nodded. 

“I’ve been prepared, Sensei. No matter what it takes, I’ll help my friend achieve his goal. We’ve already promised to do it together.”

“Well, in that case, you seem like someone who can do whatever she sets her mind to.” Hideo-Sensei smiled at the trio before standing up. “Tomorrow we start have something to do before we start our missions as an official team. Meet me by the Southern Training Grounds at 7 A.M., sharp.”

The genin all nodded in unison. “Yes, sir!”


	4. Koichi's Not As Princely As He Thought

Koichi was painfully early to the training grounds the next morning. Even though he spent an hour working on his hair, he was the first one to arrive. Strange, usually he’s the last one to arrive. It must be his lucky day!

The boy takes a look around, sighing. Well...now he’s just going to be bored until the others arrive. Who will arrive first, he wonders? He hopes it’s Akane. He hasn’t had the chance to talk with her yet, and he’d like to do it when others aren’t around. Yesterday she left the classroom before he could ask her out to lunch, and then that Ryuu beat him to it! Those two walked back to class together and seemed awfully chummy. Koichi didn’t like it.

And to make matters worse, Akane hasn’t paid any attention to Koichi at all. He’s excited to be on the same team with someone as cool as her, but she doesn’t even seem to care that he’s there. Today will be different, Koichi tells himself. Today will be the day that Akane sees how awesome I really am!

He’s wearing his same ninja clothes from yesterday, but this time he’s wearing his headband on his forehead. This is how Sasuke Uchiha wears his, right? Maybe Koichi will look cooler if he wore his headband like that, too. It was almost impossible to him to style his hair just right enough to add the headband into the mix. Of course it still looks a little off, but Koichi will just have to make do.

The boy sits on the ground, legs crossed over one another, and sighs deeply. What does Akane even see in Sasuke Uchiha? Koichi doesn’t get it. Sure, that boy is cool, dark, and mysterious, but he doesn’t care about anyone but himself! Who wants to hang around someone who’d rather be sharpening their tools than making friends? 

Koichi’s blood boils just thinking about Sasuke. He’s got so many fans, so many people surrounding and praising him all the damn time, yet he won’t even give them the time of day. It’s like everyone else is beneath him, or something. The local Prince Charming isn’t charming at all. A real prince would at least act like he loves his subjects and admirers. 

It’s not fair! Akane should be the one with all of the admirers and fans, not that Uchiha boy. Koichi thinks back to when he first met Akane in gradeschool. He didn’t think much of her at first; she was quiet, and got bullied a lot. One day that changed, though. It was like some kind of switch had been flipped in that girl, and she beat the shit out of her tormentors. 

From that day forward no one’s messed with her in class. In fact, most of the students are too scared to even look at her. She’s grown to be a bit...intimidating, to say the least. She hangs around Sasuke, too, so now no one approaches her at all. The girl’s always either alone or with the Uchiha boy, and they’re both impossible to find outside of class.

Koichi’s seen her be kind, though. She’s helped him stand up to his own bullies, even if she doesn’t realize it. Anytime that she’s called up to demonstrate, she always makes sure to explain everything clearly so that everyone can understand. Uchiha just does the demonstration and goes back to his seat. Oh wow, it must be sooooo hard being the strongest in the class.

The strongest male and female in the class couldn’t be more different in Koichi’s eyes. Akane’s beautiful, skilled, caring, and generous, while Uchiha...is admittedly strong, but that’s his only redeeming quality. Maybe if he wouldn’t act like everything was such a chore, Koichi might like him.

...No, not a chance. Koichi could never get along with someone like that, it’s impossible to even talk to Sasuke Uchiha without getting annoyed. So how can Akane do it? She’s so carefree around him, teases him, and acts like they’re close as can be. Koichi can’t stand to watch it.

Koichi stands up, irritated now, and heads over to the river beside the training grounds. As he watches his reflection ripple and dance around in the water, he frowns. Hm...oh, he looks kind of like Sasuke when he does that! The boy hunches his shoulders together and shoves his hands in his pockets, then starts pacing. Yeah, yeah! Of course!

It’s got to be the way that Sasuke carries himself that Akane likes so much. Sasuke walks around as if he’s the hottest thing in town, so maybe Koichi should too. It seems to catch the other girl’s eyes when the Uchiha does this, so it has to be effective. Of course a walk isn’t the secret to Sasuke’s popularity, but it’s a start, Koichi thinks.

Koichi paces back and forth in front of the water, slowly as he watches himself. Not bad, not bad, but it kind of hurts his back to walk like this. How does Uchiha do it so well? Koichi can already feel a hunchback forming. “Oh, look at me, I’m Sasuke Uchiha. I walk so cool, bleh bleh bleh-”

“Koichi, what are you doing?” The boy jumped out of his skin at Akane’s voice behind him. How long had she been there? She didn’t hear him muttering, did she?

“O-Oh! Good morning Akane! I was just uhm…” Koichi straightens up his back, standing tall to face Akane. Metaphorically he’s standing tall; in reality he’s a good inch and a half shorter than Akane is. “Nothing, I was doing nothing, yeah. Just looking at the water is all.”

Akane didn’t hear what Koichi was mumbling about, so he’s off the hook for now. The girl shrugs at him, takes a glance at the water, then heads over to the training posts to take a seat. Koichi watches her take a kunai knife from her bag, flinching subtly when she throws it at a tree a few yards in front of her. It sticks in halfway and Akane takes another from her weapons pack and throws it again.

There’s an awkward silence lingering over the two and Koichi isn’t sure of what to say to her now. All this time he was hoping that she’d be the first one here after him, but he didn’t think it would actually happen. He never thought he’d get this far, so he didn’t plan ahead.   
Koichi gulps, making his way over to Akane to stand beside one of the training posts around her. The kunoichi doesn’t say anything to him, so it’s up to him to break the silence. “I like your kunai knives.” Perfect. 

“Thanks.” A quick, one word response. It’s like Akane was expecting smalltalk. Damn Koichi, think, what would be a good conversation starter?

“Soooo…” Koichi’s voice trails off. He’s really drawing a blank here. “You like to train, huh? I’m pretty good at training myself.” She did say that her hobby was training, so maybe she’d like to talk about it? “What else do you like to do? I like going out to eat, going to the hotsprings, buying new clothes.”

Akane watches the male out the corner of her eye before turning to him fully. “I don’t do anything but train. I’ll go out and walk around town with a friend, but that’s only after we’re both done training for the day.”

Friend? Oh right, she did mention a friend yesterday. It couldn’t be Sasuke, could it? Nah, who would want to spend all of their freetime with that edgelord. “We should go and do something, then! I’ll show you all of my favorite places to go, maybe even get a buyers discount on certain shops. I’m kind of famous outside of the academy.”

“I don’t have the money nor time to go shopping frivolously like you do.”

“I’ll treat you. It could kind of be like a…” Koichi’s voice trails off, cheeks dusting with pink. He shakes his head, dismissing the thought he just had. “A...team bonding exercise? But just the two of us.” 

“If Ryuu and the Sensei aren’t there, then it’s not a team bonding exercise. You sort of need the whole team for that kind of thing.”

“Right...right. Of course, we’ll have to invite them too.” Koichi deflates a bit. He wasn’t expecting it to be this hard to ask Akane to hang out with him. “How about after this? We could all go out for some food together!” 

The girl throws her last knife at the tree, thinking. “Maybe. I’m sure that I’m free after this, but we should wait until Hideo-Sensei tells us what we’re doing today. We may not have the time if we’re training all day.” 

That’s true, Koichi hadn’t thought of that. He hates having to train so much, he doesn’t understand how others can just go doing it for hours on end. Then again, he does have pretty shitty stamina, so that might be why he doesn’t like doing it. 

He watches as Akane goes to retrieve her weapons from the tree trunk, taking a note on how worn out the bark on it looks. Does she do this often, or is that from other’s using the tree for training? He can’t see it well from where he’s standing, but by the way the kunai slip out the wood with such ease, it seems that Akane was hitting a premade hole in it. All of the knives went in pretty deep, too, so Akane is either freakishly strong or she’s been practicing her aim. 

Koichi doesn’t doubt that it’s a little bit of both. “Looks like you didn’t graduate in the top of the class next to Uchiha for nothing.” He’s impressed and doesn’t even try to hide it. “You don’t ever take any breaks or shortcuts, do you?”

Akane shakes her head. “No, never. If you can’t put your full effort into something like becoming a ninja, you shouldn’t bother to do it. It would only put yourself and potentially others at risk if you half-ass it.” 

Koichi clears his throat nervously, nodding in agreement. “Yeah, totally. I don’t do that stuff either, who needs breaks? Not me. See, we’ve got so much in common, hahaa…” That was a lie, this boy trains the bare minimum every chance he gets. He didn’t want Akane to think any less of him, though, so he had to say something so that she wouldn’t think any less of him. 

He’ll have to work on training more eventually, though...he doesn’t want to be a weak link to the team. That would just be terrible if someone as great as him ended up not being an asset. 

“I guess so.” Akane opens her mouth to say something else, but is cut off by a 3rd voice in the distance.

“Yo, Koichi! Akane!” Ryuu’s walking towards the training grounds, one hand in his pocket while the other works on trying to fix his rats-nest hair. He totally didn’t just wake up, nope, you’ve got absolutely no proof of that.

“Good, Ryuu’s here. That means the sensei shouldn’t be too much longer.” Akane puts her weapons away and heads off to greet Ryuu, leaving Koichi at the posts. 

“Yeah, good. Great…” Koichi mutters to himself, letting his smile drop when Akane left. Getting closer to her is going to be a lot harder than Koichi thought. Looks like that Ryuu Yamasaki isn’t having any trouble doing that, though...


	5. 3 Awkward Kids Bonding?? More Likely Than You Think

Ryuu was so unbelievably exhausted. He spent the whole night helping his dad with the shop; they had gotten a shitton of orders the day before and the deadline was 2 days from now. Everyone in the family was helping out and Ryuu was lucky that he was able to get out of the house when he did. Any later and he would’ve been roped into more chores and favors.

The two brunettes sat and chatted with one another while Koichi pouted a few feet away. He could boast about everything going on in his life, he could go on and on about how good he is at things, and he could find every reason in the world to go strike up a conversation with any girl nearby, but now he’s at a loss for words. The poor boy has no idea how to talk to Akane; she’s not at all what he thought she would be. 

Sure she’s quiet in class, and really only talks to Sasuke, but Koichi thought that was just one those mysterious, cool-kid facades that he’s read about. Akane’s made small talk with everyone in class at least once, even with him, but it’s hard to hold a conversation with her. 

So...how the fuck is Ryuu doing it so well??? Ryuu’s just over here talking on and on, and while Akane’s not saying much, she doesn’t seem annoyed with Ryuu like she was with Koichi. The girl even said a full sentence once in response once in a while.

Koichi didn’t like it. He hates that they’re hitting it off so well. Why can’t he do that? Why is it so much harder for him to talk to her now? What if they start liking each other?? Oh god, nope, no, that can’t happen. He won’t let it. This is his time to shine! Akane will pay attention to Koichi...somehow. 

“Hey, uh, is it just me or is Itou giving us the evil eye?” Ryuu muttered to Akane, eyes darting over to Koichi nervously. 

“Is he?” Akane looked over to other boy, who immediately looked away when their eyes met. “I guess he is.”

“Uh, Itou?” Ryuu cleared his throat and called to Koichi. “Do you like, wanna come over here and join us..?” 

Koichi scoffed and crossed his arms. “Of course I don’t, I’m perfectly fine over here.” That was a lie, he wanted to go over there, but he wasn’t going to say that out loud. He’s just being salty for no reason, don’t mind him. “I was just thinking about how we could be doing more productive things than just sitting around here waiting for the sensei.” 

Both Ryuu and Akane raised an eyebrow. Koichi? Doing something productive? That’s a shock. Usually he just wants to sit around and do nothing but talk. “Okay, what did you have in mind?”

“We could spar,” Koichi said, standing up now. “What better way to make a 2nd impression on the sensei than to show him just how great I--we are?” The boy takes a moment to fix his bangs, smirking. “I’d be happy to show you two how to knock an opponent down in less than 5 minutes.”

That’s...not a bad idea. Huh, Koichi’s actually on to something there. Ryuu looks to Akane, then back at Koichi, shrugging. “Sure, I’m down for that. I’m not all that great of a fighter, though, so I’m not sure how well of a fight I’ll put up.” 

“Don’t worry Ryuu, I’ll be sure to go easy on you.” Perfect. If Koichi can beat Ryuu in a sparring match, surely that would impress Akane!

Akane shakes her head, standing up. “No, that won’t work. You can’t get stronger if you don’t train with all you’ve got.” She stretches out and pops her back in a few different places, then takes her long hair and tightens the low ponytail. Can’t have it whipping around during a fight. “I’ll be your sparring opponent, if that’s alright.”

Oh. Shit. Koichi fights back a nervous look, gulps, then nods. “Of course! I’ll finish this in just enough time to let Ryuu fight me as well, haha.” This boy has regrets, he didn’t think this through. 

Akane smirks as she heads to the middle of the training ground. Koichi hesitantly follows while Ryuu just shakes his head. That guy has no idea what he’s in for, and Ryuu just hopes he’s got his will straightened out beforehand. 

Honestly, the fight didn’t even last that long. Ryuu’s impressed by how quick Koichi is to dodge, but he didn’t stand a chance against Akane. That girl dropped the poor guy in 30 seconds; Koichi was on his back looking up at Akane when she pinned him, and Ryuu could swear he could just see the ‘Please step on me’ radiating off of him. 

It’s obvious that kid has it bad. That sucks for him, though. Out of all the girls in the class, he just had to pick the one who didn’t give a shit about dating. 

Well, it’s not that he had much a choice, honestly. All the other girls had their crushes. Every girl aside from the Hyuuga chick and Akane were head over heels for Sasuke Uchiha. It’s a shame, there’s so many great guys in the class, too. There would be some cute couples if the girls could pull their heads out of Uchiha’s ass for 2 seconds to see that. 

Speaking of, now that Ryuu thought about it, Akane and Sasuke seemed pretty close. She didn’t fawn over him like the other girls, but she was almost always near him. He didn’t seem to mind that, either. Are they an item? Family members? That would make sense since the Uchiha’s were all murdered a few years back. Where would that connection be, though? Cousins, probably. They’re both strong enough for it to be believable. 

The brunet looked up when Akane sat beside him, then he looked to the still-dazed Koichi who sat down on the other side of him. Huh, that was quick. He thought they would’ve at least went another round. 

…

The tense, awkward air returned, so Ryuu sighed and just flopped onto his back. His tanned arms went behind his head to cushion it as he looked at the sky. It’s a nice day, but the lack of clouds is boring. Now he can’t guess random ass shapes in the white cotton puffs. “Hey, Akane.” She looked down at Ryuu, raising an eyebrow. “So what’s with you and Uchiha? Are you guys siblings or something, or like, dating?”

Koichi would’ve choked on a drink if he had one. But, he doesn’t, so he somehow ends up choking on air. How the fuck did he manage that? Not that he’s not curious, he has been for some time, but...it was just so sudden. 

“We grew up together,” Akane answered easily. It’s really not that big of a question, Koichi’s just a drama queen. “We’re not related or anything, but his family treated me like I was one of their own.”

“Ooooh, okay. That makes a lot of sense, then. You guys must be close.”

“We are, yeah.” Akane nods and Koichi flops onto the ground. How can he compete with the cliche childhood friend story? They probably know all of each other’s secrets and share everything together. The boy rubs his face, mind going a hundred miles a minute with all of the possibilities of just how close Akane and Uchiha are. God, this kid needs to chill. 

Ryuu scratches his head, looking at Akane now. “Well, sorry that you got stuck on a team with us. I know we aren’t as strong as he is, so you’re probably gonna get bored of our mundane shit.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh come on, you two are leagues ahead of the rest of us. You’ve both got a lot of drive behind what you do, it’s obvious. I can’t speak for Koichi over here, but I don’t really...you know, have that. I became a ninja so I don’t get stuck with a job at a meat shop. Pretty lame, if you ask me.”

As Ryuu spoke, Koichi couldn’t help but mull over why he wanted to become a ninja. His family were made up of all medical support ninja, so it was kind of pushed on him to become one too. He knows the ins and outs of the human body like the back of his hand; he can diagnose a sickness just by looking at someone 70% of the time, and cure it in less time. When it comes to brains, he’s a great strategist. Figuring out puzzles and riddles is a breeze for him.

But real life interaction? He’s shit at. He tries to act like all of those princes and heroes that he reads about in fantasy books, but it doesn’t always work out. Koichi won’t give up, though! Heroes never give up! 

“It’s not lame. You’ve got a goal.” Akane shook her head at the boy, looking ahead. It was a dramatic scene, like something from a movie. The leaves were slowly falling from the trees around them while the wind just drifted by. “It’s better than nothing. Even if it’s not something deep or thought out, it’s still something that’ll help you push forward in life.” 

“That’s...true.” Damn, this girl must think a lot. Ryuu never really thought much of why he wanted to be a ninja, but he supposes that’s a pretty good look on it. He glances to Koichi, noticing that he was lost in thought. “Oi, princey. What about you?”

Koichi subtly jumped when he was addressed. “Huh??”

“Why do you want to be a ninja? You never said why yesterday.”

“Oh, uh, well…” Why did Koichi want to be a ninja? It wasn’t because of Akane, he only met her after he joined the academy. Meeting her was a perk of it, though. Of course his family pushing him could be a reason, but...it didn’t feel like the right reason. “I guess I just wanted to prove myself. I want to be a strong ninja that can do more than just heal people-my family is pretty famous because of their healing jutsus. They’re not all that great in a fight, though. I want to be a ninja who’s great at everything, especially combat.”

Akane and Ryuu just stared at Koichi for a moment. The kid seemed superficial to them, but it looks like there’s more to him than that. “Why do you spend so much time on your hair and attire when you could be training to get stronger, then?”

Ryuu held back a wheeze when Koichi’s face went pink. “I...I..Uh…” Koichi huffed and crossed his arms, looking away from the pair. “I just like to look my best! With a face like mine, it would be a shame not to take the time to make myself look as magnificent as possible. That...and between school and my studies, I didn’t have much time to train…” He muttered the last part, but the others heard it anyways.

“We’re not in the academy anymore, Koichi.” Akane stood up, not bothering to brush herself off. “You’ve got all the time in the world to train now. Take advantage of that and let's get to it.”

“Wait, what? Right now?” Koichi questioned and Akane nodded, heading back out into the middle of the field. 

“Yeah, right now. There’s no time like the present. Get your asses up-that means you too, Ryuu. I’ll show you guys how I took down Koichi so fast.”

The boys look at each other, then quickly hop up and brush the grass off themselves before following Akane. She seems like the type you don’t want to keep waiting. They’ve completely forgotten about the sensei who was supposed to join them, not realizing that the man already had. He was up in one of the tallest trees, watching and evaluating the group. This was their test; he wanted to see what they would do on their own. Would they give up on waiting for him and leave? Would they get along when they weren’t under prying eyes? That’s what he wanted to test.

And they passed. They all could have easily just left, gone back home, but they didn’t. They’re bonding, how cute. Hideo thinks that despite such a simple test, it tells a lot about his new team.

This’ll be an interesting bunch. All so different, but they’ll get along so easily. The Jonin can’t wait to see where these kids will go from here.

\--

The trio trained until late in the afternoon. It was dusk when the sensei finally greeted them, which earned him a chorus of “WHERE THE HELL YOU BEEN AT”s. After he explained the test to the kids, they all looked so unbelievably annoyed. They’ve been out here training since the asscrack of dawn, and there was no mission. It was just another evaluation on who they were as a person. 

After a few thoughts of what a waste today was, they all couldn’t help but think of how nice it actually was. They talked and trained together nonstop, and while the boys were dead tired and ready to sleep for a week, they found that Akane wasn’t all that intimidating. She was pretty nice and took the time to teach them things they needed refreshing on, like techniques they didn’t quite understand from the academy. 

As a reward, Hideo took them all out for dinner and explained to them that a real mission would start tomorrow. They were all officially full-fledged ninjas, and should be proud of that. It was nice and relaxing, and just what the kids needed after the long day they had. When they all said goodbye, Akane grabbed some grilled tomato rice balls in a to-go bag, and then she headed off towards her house. 

Well, it wasn’t exactly a house, it was an apartment building and she lived on the top floor. When she made her way up the stairs and to her door, she found that it was already unlocked. Huh. Akane opens the door and takes her shoes off, locking it behind her as she called out. “I’m back!” 

The lights were on and she could faintly hear the shower running from in the apartment. Looks like her roommate got home late, too. She sets the bag of food down in the kitchen and heads down the hallway to her room. The layout of her apartment is simple; first there’s the front door and the walkway, you leave your shoes there, and then there’s a large open area instead of a hallway. The living room is to the left of it, there sits a couch, a bookshelf filled with all sorts of things, and a short coffee table with cushions around it. This is where meals are usually ate and it’s a nice place to relax. On the right sight of the open area is the kitchen, complete with a small fridge, stove, cupboards, and sink. There’s not much else there aside from a note taped to the fridge. It’s filled with things that the house needs. After Akane gets some money from the future missions she’ll go on, she’ll go grocery shopping. 

Going straight ahead is a short hallway with 4 doors; one left door leads to a closet filled with miscellaneous house shit, while the other left door leads to the bath and washroom. On the right are two doors side by side, both bedrooms. Akane’s is the first on the right, and it’s pretty plain looking.

She’s got a queen sized bed, weapons neatly placed around her room, she’s got scrolls up the ass that fill up one of her dresser drawers, and clothes either shoved into the rest of the dresser or tossed around the room. While her roommate has been trying to drill clean habits into Akane, she can’t help but be messy. It feels so weird being clean all the time, it’s like no one ever lives in the place. A messy home is a lived-in home. It’s not like she’s dirty, there’s no trash or anything littered about.

Home...it’s always been weird for her to think about this place as her home. All her life she’s lived at the Uchiha estate, but now...over the past few years she’s been living here. Obviously it’s been a hard adjustment, one that she’s still not completely used to. It hurt going from a bustling household to an empty apartment. 

The sound of a squeaky faucet snapped her from her thoughts. Well, it’s not entirely empty, and she’s not alone. She doesn’t think she would’ve made it this far if that wasn’t the case; the girl can’t stand being on her own for too long. While she’s not a social butterfly, she’s always felt comfortable being around at least one person during the day. 

“The bathroom’s free now,” there was a knock at her door, followed by a male voice. Fading footsteps indicated that he had left, so Akane grabbed some pajamas and took off all of her weapons and gear before leaving her room again. 

The bathroom was steamed up so bad it was hard to see, and Akane could just feel that she had a cold shower coming her way. That fucker used up all the hot water again, didn’t he? God, she should just dump ice on him next time he does that. She sets her clothes in a basket on top of the washer and dryer, eyes flickering to an abandoned blue headband. After picking it up she pokes her head out of the bathroom, catching sight of a head of damp, black hair that stuck out in all directions. 

“Oi, Sasuke,” Once she had his attention she tosses his headband to him. “You’re gonna lose that if you just leave it wherever you want.”

The Uchiha catches it and tosses it onto the coffee table, ignoring Akane’s advice. “Right, like I ever lose anything.” He rummages through the bag of food she had left out, nodding in thanks to her as he goes to sit down. 

“You’re gonna lose your fucking hands if you use up all the hot water again; I don’t like having to take ice cold showers while you get to enjoy making the bathroom a sauna.”

“Get in there before me and you won’t have to worry about cold showers.”

“If I get in here before you I swear I’m gonna take my sweet time getting ready, and it’ll be a time right after you drink a gallon of water, so you’ll just suffer while you wait your turn.” The brunette rolls her eyes at him before closing the bathroom door.


	6. Yamanaka Flowers

Over the next week everyone completely lost track of time. The days blurred together with each mission the genin completed, and soon a whole 7 days had passed. Team 9 agreed to train every day during that week, and each day was harder than the last. Well, for the boys it was; Akane had been training with the Uchiha's for a long time, even after their passing. Of course she got tired and had her limits like the others, but her stamina was something else. It was hard to keep up with. Hideo-Sensei created a brutal strength-training regimen for them, and by the end of each day they trio were ready to just sleep for like, a whole month.

They took on easy missions during the day, and trained late into the night. Their missions were always D Level ones, the easiest of them all. This meant they had to do mundane things like helping find lost pets, weed gardens, escort and assist the elderly and injured in their domestic lives. It was painfully easy, and honestly it just seemed like they were all given busy-work, but they didn't complain. The pay they received was enough and it helped out the village.

Well...for Ryuu and Koichi, the pay was enough. They lived under their family's roofs and didn't have to worry about rent. Akane, on the other hand, never had any money to spare. While Sasuke and Akane always managed to pay their rent on time, even with their combined income it was still hard to have money leftover. After the rent came the electricity and water bills, then the food budget. These D Level missions paid well, but not well enough for them. They managed, though, and didn't complain much. But they were both inwardly grouching about getting all of these tedious tasks when they felt they deserved better, harder missions.

These easy tasks left Team 9 with plenty of time on their hands; between training and missions, it seemed like they almost had too much free time. While Koichi and Ryuu had no trouble filling the blanks of their days, Akane struggled to do the same. With her only close friend doing his own team missions, the most she managed to do was train or just stay home and sleep. She didn't like going out into the village, not on her own at least. Despite the direct abusive behaviour towards her from the other villagers, their stares always put her on edge. She was a ninja now, this kind of thing shouldn't bother her...

But it did. It hurt that she wasn't able to go out on her own anymore. When she was younger it was easier; no one knew her name. Now that her last name can be put with a face, it made it harder for her to get through her days without some sort of incident. Most stores refused to sell her anything because of it, saying that selling to a Himura would bring them terrible luck. She never understood why this happened. No matter how many questions she asked, no one answered. It was unfair, she wanted to at least know why she was being hated when she hadn't done anything wrong. 

It was late afternoon on the weekend when she finally got a break from training. Hideo figured that they should rest their bodies for these two days before they resumed anything else intense, which the boys were grateful for. Akane now had the time to do something she's been wanting to do for a while, but she needed to go shopping for it, which would be troublesome without Sasuke with her. If he bought the items, they'd accept him doing it. So long as she wasn't inside the store with him. Sometimes he could intimidate the store owners into letting her buy something, but she didn't like that. It seemed to make their disdain towards her grow.

It was the middle of summer, so despite the setting sun it was still quite warm out. Businesses usually kept their doors open longer during this season, so maybe someone who doesn't know Akane would be working tonight. Maybe she could get what she needed and be done with it.

Or maybe they'd cause a scene, making any and all passerby come to check it out. Maybe they'd make Akane out to be the bad guy again, and the crowd would turn on her once more. It wouldn't be the first time it's happened.

The girl sighed as she walked the streets of Konoha, hands shoved in her pockets while she avoided anyone who walked too close. The leaves were still very much green, but a strong breeze would cause them to break off and fall to the ground. Shop workers swept the concrete outside their doors, chatting with passerby in an attempt to get them to come in and buy something. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. None tried to strike up a conversation with Akane, though. All she got was cold stares and distant whispers. 

She turned the corner and happened upon a flower shop. Huh, she hasn't seen this place before. 'Yamanaka Flowers'. Why does that name sound familiar? Since she hasn't been in here before, maybe they'll be able to help Akane out. It wouldn't hurt to try...

The brunette drew in a deep breath and sighed, making her way inside. It was quite pretty, and all sorts of floral scents filled Akane's nose when she entered. There were so many flowers, she couldn't even name more than 3. Not that she was a flower expert to begin with, but still. A single customer was waiting at the counter, and Akane could hear a familiar voice coming from one of the back rooms. 

"Okay sir, your order is finally ready!" A head of blonde hair, tied back into a high ponytail meandered from the back room behind the counter, a bouquet in her hands. "Your wife should love these." Ino. Ino Yamanaka. Oh shit, Akane knew that name was familiar. This was one of the girls who was so obsessed with Sasuke, and a former classmate of hers.   
There was no way that Akane could buy anything from here, she doubts Ino would even give her the time of day. They never talked much in school, but all the girls hated Akane because of how casual and close she was with Sasuke. Not that Akane cared about that, but...it would just be easier to avoid her, if possible. Now that they're out of the academy, they're technically equals. Who knows what Ino could say or do without the academy's rules or restrictions. 

Akane tried to turn and leave before she was spotted, but Ino finished up with her current customer and quickly noticed the other body in the room. "Hi there, welcome to Yamanaka's Flower Shop! How can I help you?" Her voice rang cheerily, but Akane could see her face drop in annoyance when the blonde saw who it was. "Oh, it's...you. Why are you here?"

Deep breaths Akane, it's fine. It's not like she can do much to you in here; what could she do? Throw roses at you? ... Okay, well, the thorns would probably hurt, but that's not the point. Akane kept her hands in her pockets and shifted her weight on her feet, thinking of a response. "I...uh..." Wow, suddenly what little social skills she had jumped out the window. What even are words at this point? "I needed some help with... plants..." 

Ino raised an eyebrow, a little shocked. This girl came to her for help? Huh. "What do you mean by plants? You're gonna have to be specific here." She tried to be friendly, because this was a customer after all, but she couldn't hide her displeasure.

Akane awkwardly took out a few pouches of seeds she obtained earlier today. Their morning mission was to assist an elderly couple with their garden; apparently rabbits and other animals from the nearby forest had been eating their crops. Team 9 not only helped them replant things, they also drove the animals away for good. They built up a wire fence around the garden and even a scarecrow. The couple was so grateful, but since they didn't have enough money to pay them all they settled for giving the kids seeds instead. Koichi and Ryuu weren't interested, but Akane seized this opportunity. Growing their own vegetables would help her and Sasuke save so much money.

Ino came around the counter and examined the labels of the seeds, scoffing. "This is a flower shop, not a farm. We don't grow vegetables, you know." She crossed her arms in front of her, wrinkling the yellow work apron she wore. 

Akane's face must've shown her disappointment, because Ino almost immediately regretted her harsh tone. She covered it up with a blank look, nodding as she put the seeds back in her pockets. "Oh. Okay. I'm...well, sorry that I wasted your time. I'll just..." Akane turned to leave, obviously wanting to just get out of the situation as soon as possible. She shouldn't have come here, it wasn't worth it. Ino must think she's an idiot now.

After a few moments, Ino sighed and put a hand on Akane's shoulder to stop her. "Look, we have some pots in the back that might work for what you have, if you really need them." Akane turned and blinked at her, rapidly nodding. Ino felt the tension in the air drop after that, and nodded towards the counter, which Akane quickly followed her to. "What do you have? Carrots, cabbage..."

Akane took the seeds out again and read off the labels. "Carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, and cucumbers." Ino nods and heads into the back room once more, leaving Akane alone at the counter. Uh...does she go back there to help? Does she stay here? She...thinks that she'll stay here. This was weird, she wasn't expecting this at all. Ino wasn't known for her kindness. In fact, the blonde haired, blue eyed girl was sort of bossy and rude at times. This was new for Akane to see.

While she waits, her eyes fall onto a pot of pretty purple flowers atop the counter. There was no nametag, so Akane couldn't tell what they were. They were like little balls of petals scattered about a bush, and Akane couldn't help but smile bit when she saw them. Huh, she wonders what they were?

Ino comes back about 5 minutes later, pushing a cart full of pots and bags of soil. There's 4 pots in total, 3 rounded ones of various sizes and one long rectangular one. Akane raised an eyebrow at the items, especially the bags. 

"'Why should I bother with buying dirt when there's plenty that I can dig up outside?' That's what your thinking, right?" Ino inquired when she noticed Akane's expression, and the girl just nodded and looked back at the ground. "This is a special type of dirt; it's full of nutrients that plants and flowers love. Trust me, it's worth the buy."

As the girl rang up the items, Akane contemplated about asking the names of the flowers in front of her. Maybe she could buy them, too? When she saw the price of everything, she deflated. The poor girl just barely had enough money for all of this; the flowers could definitely wait, these vegetables come first. 

"Why are you wanting to buy all of this, anyways?" Ino asked as Akane handed her the required amount of money. "I wouldn't have taken you for a gardener, Himura."  
"I'm, uhm...not really a gardener. I have no idea what I'm doing, and I probably just wasted the last of my money doing this, if I'm being honest here." Her voice was laced with worry, despite trying to hide it.

"Why use it on this, then? Just go out and buy some vegetables." Ino stacked the pots and soil on the counter for Akane, then leaned against it blew some hair out of her face. "It seems like too much trouble to go through, if you ask me. I bet you could be training instead."

Akane grew quiet at that and just nodded, looking at her hands. "I...can't buy any more produce. Everyone refuses to sell me anything anymore." Ino looked at her, confused, so she continued. "My last name has bad luck attached to it; they're scared that if they sell me something, anything, then it'll bring bad luck to their businesses." 

"Oh..." Ino had no idea. That's so ridiculous, but it makes a lot of sense. She never sees Akane in town much, and when she does the girl's always up on rooftops, avoiding the streets. "I'm sorry, I had no idea."

"You don't have to apologize, it's not like it's your fault or anything." Akane looked back up and shrugged it off, taking the chance to pick up the pots in soil. She hoisted them up onto both of her shoulders, much to Ino's surprise.

"Hold on," Ino took a pen and a pad of paper, then scribbled something onto it. It took about 5 minutes, but afterwards she taped what appears to be a list and instructions onto one of the pots. "You probably have no idea on how to plant those, so use that as a guide. They can all survive outside all day, but if it rains a lot, be sure to put them in a place inside where it's not drafty."

"Thank you, Ino." Akane smiled a small, genuine smile. The blonde was so caught off guard that she nearly slid of the counter, but hid it well.  
"No problem..." Ino smiled back, astounded that this was Akane Himura. She's never seen the girl smile like that before, it was actually kind of nice. She as kind of nice. Who would've figured? "You can come back here anytime, so be sure to tell me how those vegetables are doing in a few weeks."

Akane nodded and the two said their goodbyes. As Ino watched her leave, she couldn't help but feel bad about the way she used to treat her. Himura wasn't at all as bad as all of those rumors said she was, and now Ino kind of feels bad for believing them. Her eyes fall on the pot of flowers that Akane was looking at earlier. Ino didn't say anything, but it was obvious that the girl was fascinated by them. Maybe she could give these as a gift? It wouldn't hurt to try.

Despite the Himura girl being a little weird, Ino thought she was pretty alright, now that she actually had a conversation with her. It was short, but not that bad. Now she kind of hopes that those vegetables grow alright. Ino ponders whether or not they have any spare fertilizer as she cleans up the shop and gets ready for closing.


	7. It's Time For A Change

When Akane returned home she was infuriated to find that Sasuke had gone on a missions without telling her. He wasn’t even there to say goodbye or anything, he just left her a note explaining that he’d be gone with Team 7 for a while and told her to stay out of his room. I mean, good for him and all, he’s finally got a C Level mission and gets to travel, but he could’ve at least said goodbye to her in person! God, he always just goes and does whatever he wants. If she did that he’d throw a fit and call her irresponsible. 

...Sasuke...was going on a higher level mission than her. That thought stuck with her as she followed Ino’s instructions for planting her vegetables. Akane’s place had a small balcony beside the kitchen that they never used, so it was the perfect place to plant these. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Sure, she was glad that he got one so early on in his ninja career, but now she was the one doing all of the lower level missions. It didn’t mean anything...did it?

They were pretty much evenly matched, so it’s not like he would look down on her or anything. Of course he wouldn’t, he never has. He looks down on pretty much everyone else, though.

...Because they’re all weaker than him. Oh, fuck, what if this means that she’s getting weaker than him?? He’s getting the chance to go on a C Level mission as a bodyguard meanwhile she’s pulling weeds from other’s gardens. He’ll probably get the chance to prove his skills in combat so many times, while she’ll get to prove her skills in couponing. 

That just won’t do. She’s obviously overthinking this, but if there’s even the slightest chance that he’ll end up looking down on her after this, she doesn’t want to risk it. There’s also a possibility that Akane’s a tad bit salty that Sasuke just assumed that she’d be here tending to the house while he’s gone. What is she, a housewife? Hell no, she can go on an exciting C Level mission just like he can.

Once she’s planted the seeds in the pots, she does a quick weather check. It’s supposed to be raining throughout the week, so she shouldn’t have to worry about watering these things, right? Akane gets a cup of water and waters all the pots of soil just in case, then locks up the house and hurries down the stairs of her apartment. 

It’s late, but hopefully the Hokage’s office is still open. As the kunoichi hopped across the building rooftops, she worked out how she would ask for a ‘better’ mission in her head. This is the first time she’ll be requesting something like this, so she has to make a good impression on the Hokage. 

God, now she’s worrying about whether or not she’ll make a fool of herself. What if the Hokage thinks of her like the rest of the village does? He could easily recognize her as a Himura and turn her down before she even gets the chance to speak. Will he think that she’s being rude and speaking out of place? Fuuuuuuuck.

Akane stops on a short rooftop and takes the moment to think. Maybe this was a bad idea? They might not even be open. With her luck they’d be closing just as she got there, and she’d have to wait until morning. She’s never gone there alone, either, so would it be weird if she went without her sensei? Oh god, what if she has to have Hideo-Sensei with her? Would it be like, disrespectful if she didn’t have him with her? 

She was so deep in thought that she hadn’t even noticed that another person had jumped up on the roof with her. He wore a white apron around his waist, a black t-shirt, and beige cargo shorts with sandals. “Akane??” Ryuu looked so confused, he honestly thought that Akane was some kind of burglar when he heard her on the rooftop.

The girl jumped slightly and turned around, relaxing when she saw who it was. Wait, what? “Ryuu? What are you doing here?”

“I should be asking you that. You’re the one standing on top of my family’s shop,” Ryuu shorted as Akane made an ‘oh’ face. Whoops, she had no idea. “I thought I’d have to get a butcher knife and come up here to stab a bitch. I’m glad it was just you. What brings you here?”

Okay, this is fine. She can ask her teammate for his opinion on this, it’ll be easy. “I was just...on my way to the Hokage’s office.”

“Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, yeah of course. I was just…” Akane sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. “It sounds childish now that I say it out loud, but I was hoping if I asked for a more difficult mission, then maybe he would assign us one.”

“Oh, shit, really? Sweet. Let me just go tell my folks where I’m going and I’ll join you.”

“What?” Akane asked the question just as Ryuu hopped down to the ground. She shuffled her feet as she waited for him to come back.

“Alright, let’s get on it.” Ryuu returned with a green jacket on now, smiling at Akane. 

“Are you sure? You aren’t worried about what he might say to us?”

“Nah, the worst thing he’ll say is ‘no’, so it wouldn’t kill us to ask.” Ryuu motions for Akane to follow him, which she does, and notices that they’re veering off in the direction opposite of the office.

“The office is the other way.”

“I know, we’re gonna stop by Koichi’s first, though. Him and I were just saying how boring the missions were the other day, so this it’s funny that you show up wanting better ones.” The boy shrugged. “We were to scared to ask you if you wanted to get harder ones, to be honest.”

“Why would you be scared?”

Ryuu gave a wry smile at Akane from over his shoulder. “Well, you’re kind of scary. You’re always scowling, too, so we can never know when it’s a good time to talk to you about stuff.”

“I don’t scowl!”

“You’re doing it right now!” Ryuu laughed as Akane lightly smacked her cheeks with both hands. “You must hang around Uchiha too much, you both look like twins when you make those faces. It’s like your edgy movie characters with the weights of the worlds on your shoulders.”

Akane wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so she fell silent, frowning. Does she really scowl that much? She’s never noticed. Then again, she doesn’t look in the mirror often, so it’s not like she really pays much attention to how she looks in the first place. 

“I guess I just don’t really notice that I do it, sorry,” Akane mutters the last bit, looking down. 

“It’s nothing to apologize for, it’s not like you look bad when you do it or anything. It’s just hard to approach you sometimes, you know?” Ryuu cuts the conversation short as he stops on a house rooftop, then hops onto a large windowsill below. Akane follows him, raising an eyebrow when he just opens the window and climbs through. 

When she enters after him, she finds herself in a bedroom. The walls were a crisp white and it was remarkably neat. Sasuke would be impressed, it’s cleaner than his own room, Akane’s thinks. The jade green, black, and white decor is scattered about the room, ranging from picture frames to wall and ceiling decor, to...animal plushies? There’s about 4 plush toys sitting on the twin bed, which made Akane wonder who they might belong to.

“Where are we?” She asked as Ryuu took a seat on the bed. He seemed rather comfortable here.

“The Itou residence, duh. I don’t know where Koichi is, he might be eating dinner or in the bathroom or something.” Ryuu said that so casually, does he come here often? He must, because Akane is feeling extremely nervous about being in someone else’s house like this. She doesn’t think that she’s ever been in a house other than her own, so this is new to her.

Before she can answer there’s a voice coming from outside the door, and it sounds like Koichi. He’s yelling about someone going into his room when he’s not there, and Ryuu just snickers. The door opens and Koichi steps in, black pajama shorts hanging loosely on his waist with a towel draped over his shoulders. His hair was damp and...straight. Like, it wasn’t styled or anything, it just went straight down. Akane’s never seen him with his hair down, so she didn’t recognize him at first.

As soon as he saw the pair in his room, Koichi shrieked like a little girl and slammed himself against the hallway wall. His hands immediately went to cover his bare chest and his entire face and neck went beet red when he saw who it was. “RYUU, WHAT THE FUCK?!” 

Ryuu just held up a hand and gave short wave. “Yo. Get a shirt on, we’re going out for a few minutes.”

“Wh...what? No, what???” Koichi was still processing this. His teammates, his crush was here in his room. Ryuu’s done this like, 4 times already, so Koichi’s not that surprised that he’s here, but Akane Himura was here. Standing in his room. Oh god, help this boy. 

Koichi’s head snapped to the side when he heard footsteps coming up the stairs and he jumped back into the room, slamming his door shut. Okay, okay, what does he do? He quickly covers his upper body with the towel and shuts himself in his closet to get dressed.

“Dude, Koichi,” Ryuu flopped against the bed, groaning, then sat back up and stood again. “Don’t be such a pansy, just throw on a shirt and lets get going. We’re gonna go to the Hokage’s Office to talk to him.”

“WHAT?!” Koichi burst through the closet, a white longsleeve shirt on, then rushed to his vanity mirror to check his appearance. “No, oh no, we are n o t doing that! I just got out the shower-I can’t believe you just-NO.”

“Yes, oh yes, we are most definitely doing that,” Ryuu looks around the room. Hmm...Koichi won’t fit through the window if they tried to force him to, but he will fit through the door. “Just come on, it’ll be quick. In and out.”

Koichi huffed and slammed his head onto his vanity desk. This motherfucker. “It seriously can’t wait until morning? And why did you bring Akane??” -Shit, that was rude. He looks up and over at her, stumbling over his words now. “Not...Not that I’m not glad to see you, I always like seeing you haha, but, uhm, I wasn’t expecting GUESTS, Ryuu.”

“Expect the unexpected.”

“Okay, I’m not expecting you to get the fuck out, so how about you go ahead and do that?”

“Aw, come on, don’t be like that. We came all this way to get you so we can go and ask the Hokage for a cool mission. I guess you don’t want one, huh? I hear an old lady lost her cat again, maybe we can take that mission and get cat treats as a reward this time instead of vegetable seeds.”

“Hey, I actually liked that we got seeds,” Akane finally spoke up, eyes still scanning the room. “I just planted them and they’ll save me a lot of money.”

“Well, we aren’t interested in gardening, but you have fun with that. The point IS,” Ryuu walks over to Koichi and pats his shoulders with both hands. “We gotta go and do this now before we bitch out or get stuck with some other lame mission in the morning. So let’s get a move on.”

Koichi just stared at his friends, the sighed dramatically. “God, fine, FINE. Give me an hour to do my hair.”

“Ain’t nobody got time for that. Akane,” Ryuu looks up at Akane, grinning, then made his way over to the door. “Grab him.”

“WAIT NO-” Before Koichi could get another word out, Akane scooped the boy up and tossed him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Holy shit, his face is even more red than it was earlier. He’s practically a red light now. All he could do was shriek in shock as Ryuu threw open his bedroom door and ran out of it with Akane following close behind.

There were kids outside the door of Koichi’s room, listening in, and the 2 of them shrieked along with Koichi when they saw the trio rush out of his room. “MOOOOOOOM, MOOM, MOM, MOMMA! KOICHI HAD A BOY AND A G I R L IN HIS ROOM!” They screamed in unison, because yes, when your older brother is getting kidnapped that’s what you focus on.

Akane just followed Ryuu down the stairs and through the house, running past an older woman who almost dropped the tray of drinks she had been carrying. 

“Hi Ms. Itou!” Ryuu gave the woman a wave as he threw open the front door of the house and ran outside, Akane on his heels. The woman looked so flabbergasted about her son being carried out of her home like that; Ryuu she recognized, she’s met him a lot, but who was that other girl with him? When she registered what her other two children had said she gasped, because there was a girl in Koichi’s room! What a good mother, not even worried about her son being jacked out his own home like that, but more focused on tending to the new guests she just had. She’s got a feeling they’ll be back, they have to come back because she trusts Ryuu to bring Koichi back before it gets too late.

Koichi screeched and screamed all the way to the Hokage’s Office, even tried to kick out of Akane’s grasp a few times, but this girl was too strong. He was conflicted about how he felt about her just so easily carrying him right now. They reached the office in no time at all, wanting to rush so they didn’t have to hear Koichi screaming for more than 5 minutes. This time they hopped off the rooftops onto the ground below and stood in front of the large double doors leading inside. 

Akane set Koichi down and he was so flustered and angry that Ryuu would tell her to do that, but he can’t be mad at Akane for it. “RYUU YAMASAKI, I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU.” Koichi tried to make a quick getaway, but Akane grabbed him by the hem of his shirt and led him back to the doors. “Oh my god, we can’t just show up here in...in...in THIS!” He motions down to his clothes. “We aren’t properly dressed, this is ridiculous!”

“You’re ridiculous, Koichi. Just chill. The quicker we ask, the quicker you can get home and make yourself look all nice and frufru.” Ryuu rolled his eyes at Koichi’s offended expression.

“Well, excuse me for taking care in how I fucking look. I just don’t want to be disrespectful by not showing up in the proper attire! I mean this is the HOKAGE-” Koichi was cut off by the double doors opening, and he yelped and hid himself behind Akane. 

It was Iruka-Sensei and the Hokage himself there, giving the gang a questioning look. “What are you three doing here this late?” Iruka asked, almost accusingly. First Naruto being disrespectful and causing trouble this morning, and now them? He and the Hokage give them all a look over, waiting on a response.

The trio is suddenly at a loss for words. Well, this isn’t at all how they expected this to go down. Ryuu looked to the others while Koichi died inside and Akane just looked at the ground. Okay, this is their chance. It’s now or never because she’s positive that they’d all indeed ‘bitch out’, as Ryuu put it, if they didn’t do it now. “Lord Hokage, sir, we came to ask a favor of you.” Akane’s voice remained unwavering, her face expressionless, but it was obvious she was nervous by how tense she was. She looked back up to meet the Hokage’s eyes, standing her ground.

“Oh, do you?” The Hokage recognized these 3, they were Hideo Hayashi’s students, weren’t they? “Ryuu Yamasaki...Koichi Itou...and Akane Himura.” Akane paled a bit when he said her last name, but gulped and nodded. He wasn’t as intimidating as she had imagined; though she’s seen him before, she herself has never had a conversation with him. “What is it that you want?”

“I...We want a harder…” Oh god, words??? Never heard of them. Akane takes a deep breath and straightens her shoulders out, thinking of how Sasuke would ask. No, he would demand what he wanted. She can’t exactly do that here, with the Hokage and all that, but she could firmly ask for what she wanted. “The missions we’ve been receiving since we graduated the academy seem like meaningless tasks that anyone, ninja or not, could easily do. They’re not challenging or testing our skills as ninja or as individuals.”

Ryuu nods in agreement, tossing his hands behind his head. “Yeah, sir. They kind of suck.” Koichi looks like he’s about to pass out, oh my god RYUU what the FUCK. 

“That’s not how I would’ve put it, but uhm, yeah. They suck. We’d like to-we want better ones. We want to be challenged. We may be young, but we wear these headbands as a sign that we can do more than just domestic tasks that a toddler could manage.”

Iruka was shocked; this was what Team 7 had asked for earlier, and while that’s not at all how he would’ve asked the Hokage for a challenging mission, he can’t help but feel a little proud of his former students. They’re maturing. But that’s still not how you talk to a village leader. He can’t get a word out just yet, though, because the Hokage laughed and caught them all by surprise. Was he...Did he find this funny?

“Kakashi Hatake’s team said the same thing earlier today. I wonder if all of the genin squads feel this way?” The Hokage rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “You feel as if you’re being treated like toddlers? You want a challenge?”

Ryuu and Akane nodded while Koichi shook his head. Nope, nope, he doesn’t exactly feel like that, nope, hahaaaaaaaaa oh god kill him now.

“Fine then. I’ll assign you a ‘better’ mission. You three want the chance to prove yourselves?” He asked once more, looking to Iruka, then back at the kids. “Come back here first thing in the morning. Be prepared to travel. I’ll give you all a challenge.”

The team’s faces all lit up with excitement at the same time, skeptical of what they were hearing. “What? Really?!” Koichi asked, peeking from behind Akane, and the Hokage nodded in response.

“Yes, really. Hideo speaks highly of you all, and the fact that you’ve all come here on your own to ask something of me says a lot about you all. You’re still children, so I can’t give you anything over a C Level mission. Iruka, find them something you think they can handle and report to me in the morning.”

“A-Ah...yes sir!” Iruka nods to the Hokage, and after a few more minutes of them talking the two dismiss the children. He watches them go, lips pressed together as he thinks. “Sir, are you sure about this?”

“That’s the second time you’ve asked me that today, Iruka. Do you not believe in the students you taught?” 

“Of course I do, I...I just…”

“It’s hard to see them wanting to grow up, isn’t it?” The Hokage asks, giving Iruka a sympathetic shoulder pat. “I understand. There’s no telling how this will turn out, but believe in them. If they think they can handle it, then you should too. They learned from one of the best, after all.”

“Yes, sir. You’re right.” Iruka had to believe in his students. They were strong, all of them. They all had their own skills and talents, and together that will help drive them forward.

So...why couldn’t he let go of this strange feeling of dread that had settled in his chest?


End file.
